Vendor Relations

Pizzeria owners like to imagine — often with rage — that vendors exploit retailers as a means of accruing massive profits. But the reality is that many distributors operate on thin margins. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t negotiate for the best possible price on every menu item. You should, however, be aware of how hard you’re pushing your reps. At some point negotiating crosses the line into bullying. Beat up your rep too often and the relationship with your vendor sours.

So, how do you know if your vendor is worthy of your business?

Michael Shepherd, owner of Michael Angelo’s Pizza in Ohio, has some interesting thoughts on the matter. Check them out here:

Cost Cutting 101

Sometimes, there’s no other option — there comes a time to start turning over rocks and cutting expenses. But there are right and wrong ways to cut costs … and ingredient quality is never the place to start.

Big Dave Ostrander has compiled a list of 16 cost-cutting measures that allow pizza operations to trim back in non-lethal ways. Click here to view the power-packed tips.

Dough Terminology

We’ve gotten lots of questions recently from readers who are new to the pizza business and are unfamiliar with many of the terms and jargon we use — particularly when it comes to dough. Don’t know much about bulk fermentation or what it means to “down stack” your dough? Don’t worry, we’ve asked our Dough Doctor, Tom Lehmann, to compile a glossary of terms for newbies.

Even you veterans may learn something from this one! View it here:

Cross Promotions

Have a great movie theatre in your town, or a car wash that everyone really loves to frequent? If so, you have just been presented with a prime opportunity for cross promotion. Trade pizza for movie tickets and give the tickets to employees who successfully upsell a certain number of appetizers. Or trade pizza for car wash access codes and offer customers a Pizza & Suds special — bundle a large pizza, a pitcher of beer and a FREE car wash at a price that works for both sides of the coin.

Our Marketing Matters columnist, Scott Anthony, is a Fox’s Pizza Den franchisee in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. He has managed to utilize many types of local businesses to cross-promote his pizzeria, and he says you can do it, too.

Click here to learn more.

Featured Recipe — Spumoni

With hot temperatures upon us, a cool treat is more alluring than ever. Spumoni is a frozen dessert that contains a double deck of ice cream. How can you go wrong with that? It also gives you an upscale dessert option that commands an upscale price point, so give it a try.

Spumoni
3 cups pistachio ice cream
1/3 cup shelled pistachio nuts, chopped
6 maraschino cherries
3 cups vanilla ice cream
¼ teaspoon rum extract
To see the rest of this delicious recipe, click here.